PSBA 'Crash a House' helps senior

By Pamela Howell, Contributing Writer

Published 3:53 pm, Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Photo: Tamara Pearis / For The NE Herald

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Live Oak's Parkour, Skate and Bike Association (PSBA) members and supporters Susana Romero, Wilma Gibson and Rachel Garcia scrape old paint off a garage door and apply a new coat during the group's "Crash A House" effort Saturday. less

Live Oak's Parkour, Skate and Bike Association (PSBA) members and supporters Susana Romero, Wilma Gibson and Rachel Garcia scrape old paint off a garage door and apply a new coat during the group's "Crash A ... more

Photo: Tamara Pearis / For The NE Herald

PSBA 'Crash a House' helps senior

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Grace Partida, a Live Oak widow and a senior citizen, didn't know it at the time, but she was sowing the seeds of friendship almost two years ago when she spoke up for a group of young people who just wanted a place in her neighborhood to call their own.

Now, those seeds of friendship have bloomed into something that Partida still can't believe.

“I'm in awe. I'm in shock. Somebody pinch me, please,” Partida said as she scurried around her front yard Saturday, taking pictures of the 40-plus volunteers who were busy at her home at 12102 Northledge during “Crash a House,” a home improvement project funded entirely by donations.

An adult volunteer obliged, pinching Partida, as the sounds of scraping, digging, pounding, and sanding mixed with music from a radio in Partida's garage.

Three years ago, Partida lost her husband of 43 years to complications from Alzheimer's disease. “I quit my job to take care of him. I was his full-time caregiver,” she explained.

“You have to do what you have to do. He didn't want to go to a nursing home, and he was able to die peacefully at home.

“But I keep asking 'why me?'” Partida said with a huge grin and a wave of her arm at the volunteers in her yard.

Live Oak City Councilman Bob Tullgren countered with a grin of his own and a simple answer: “Why not you?”

“Mrs. Partida is a Live Oak senior and resident who just needs a little help,” Tullgren said. “The exterior of the house is in need of repair, and we were afraid the city was going to say something.”

Tullgren is a spokesman for the Parkour, Skate and Bike Association (PSBA), whose members enjoy skateboarding, biking, and a new fitness activity, parkour.

Originating in France, parkour is often called “free running” and is the art of performing a series of jumps, flips and other gymnastics movements to avoid natural and man-made obstacles.

The hive of activity at Partida's home was sparked, in part, by her standing with the teens in her neighborhood.

“She's just a friend of mine,” said 17-year-old volunteer Brionna Smith, who knelt in a flower bed with Hector Kichura, 19.

The pair worked to pull up weeds where a bright red kalanchoe plant bloomed.

“When I walk to the park or home from school, she lets me cut through on her driveway,” Smith said. “She's just a good person.”

Partida spoke up for the young people at a City Council meeting two years ago, when the council voted to fund a $30,000 design for a fitness park, where teens and others can enjoy their activities without fear of traffic, police citations or bad influences.

The group is hoping to raise enough to get the park built at a to-be-determined site. The PSBA's “Push for the Park” campaign is encouraging teens to “Drop the remote and play outside.”

“You really become a product of your environment,” Tullgren said. “If you skate in a ditch, there's the risk of sex, drugs and bad influences.

“Instead of skating in a ditch, or on a parking lot or in a city street, they'll have a place,” he said.

The idea for the park originated with PSBA member Matt Williams, a culinary arts student who was ticketed for skateboarding in front of his home a few years ago.

Williams appealed to the city. And, he appealed to his fellow athletes and enthusiasts to band together.

“Within days, word (about PSBA) spread like an out-of-control fire through the ditches, back streets and schools, and it grew to 513 (members) strong,” Tullgren said.

“There are now members and PSBA chapters in Tennessee and organizations in Mexico, England, and states throughout the nation — all watching the town of Live Oak.”